The Brahma-saṁhitā, this Brahma-saṁhitā was compiled by Brahmā. It is very old book. It was picked up by Lord Caitanya from South India. When He was traveling in South India, in a temple He found this book, handwritten, very old. Formerly there was no press. If anyone wanted some book, he would have to copy it from others. That was the system. The books were not available just like nowadays we have got printed, thousands and thousands copies. That was not available. So this book was..., two books were collected by Caitanya Mahāprabhu from South India.

One book is named Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. That book was written by one of the devotees, very great devotee, Bilvamaṅgala. His life is very interesting. He was too much prostitute-hunter. And in one incidence his kept prostitute gave him instruction, "Oh, you have got so much attraction for this skinny body. If you would have such attraction for Kṛṣṇa, I do not know what you have done." Oh, at once he became, "Yes." This is called reference to the context.

Because he, that gentleman, in his previous life he cultivated Kṛṣṇa consciousness to the highest degree, but somehow or other, it was stopped. And as soon as the same thing was pointed out, he began again from that point. That is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Even if we do not perform the whole process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, whatever we do, that remains in asset. That is never lost.

So this Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura, from that prostitute's house he became a saintly man. So he wrote a very nice book, Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta. Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta means "pleasing to the ear." Anything about Kṛṣṇa is pleasing to the ear. So he wrote a voluminous book, Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura. That book was collected by Lord Caitanya. And along with that book, this Brahma-saṁhitā was collected.

So in this Brahma-saṁhitā this verse appears. Goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya (Bs. 5.43). The supreme planet in the spiritual sky is called Goloka Vṛndāvana, and all other planets, either in the spiritual world or in the material world... All the universes, they are all in just like strata. So goloka-nāmni nija-dhāmni tale ca tasya (Bs. 5.43). Underneath that goloka-nāmni there are different planetary spheres, or system. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu. Devī-dhāma. This is called Devī-dhāma.

This material world called Devī-dhāma. Above this there is Maheśa-dhāma, Śivaloka. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāma. Hari-dhāma means these Vaikuṇṭhas. Devī-maheśa-hari-dhāmasu teṣu teṣu. In all those systems of different kinds of planets, teṣu teṣu, te te prabhāva-nicayā vihitas ca yena (Bs. 5.43). Every planet, every spiritual atmosphere or material atmosphere, they have got some particular, I mean, specially, every, every planet. So that is designed by Kṛṣṇa. Te te prabhāva-nicayā. Every planet has specific influence or specific... Just like in the moon planet the specific feature is that it gives you cold light. Moon planet is never hot. Similarly, in sun planet, it supplies you heat. You cannot expect from any other planet heat or any other planet this coolness. They are designed by the Supreme Lord, everything nicely. Te te prabhāva-nicayā.

That speciality is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. Govinda: He is reservoir of pleasure. So everything designed by Him is full of pleasure, and it is full of perfection. Govindam Adi-puruṣaṁ. Adi-puruṣam means the supreme, original personality. Tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship Him." Yes. That is the instruction. "I do not worship anyone; I worship Kṛṣṇa." That's all right. The Brahmā says.

So we also coming from the same disciplic succession, who worship Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā. Then from Brahmā, Nārada learned how to worship Kṛṣṇa. From Nārada learned Vyāsadeva how to worship Kṛṣṇa. From Vyāsadeva learned Madhvācārya how to worship Kṛṣṇa. Then from Madhvācārya learned Mādhavendra Purī.

Similarly, the disciplic succession is coming, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, then His disciplic succession—Svarūpa Dāmodara, Ṣaḍ-gosvāmī, Kṛṣṇadas Gosvāmī, Baladeva Vidyābhūṣana, Viśvanātha Cakravartī. In this way there is a disciplic succession beginning from Lord Brahmā.

But that Brahmā instructed, govindam Adi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi: "I worship the Supreme, Original Personality of Godhead, Govindam." The govinda-bhajan is the prime factor for all worshiping endeavors. Even Śaṅkarācārya, who was impersonalist, at the last stage of his life he advised everyone,

bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ

bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate

prāpte sannihite kāle

na hi na hi rakṣati ḍukṛñ-karaṇe

(Śaṅkarācārya)

He advised, "You fools, you are talking about philosophical speculation, grammatical meaning, and eschewing. Oh, these are all nonsense. You cannot save yourself by doing this. When there will be death, Govinda can save you. Only Govinda can save you from falling down. So bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ bhaja govindaṁ mūḍha-mate. You foolish persons, you just worship Govinda."

So there are from Śaṅkara...(?) Śaṅkarācārya is supposed to be the incarnation of Lord Śiva. So he also advised govinda-bhajan, Brahmā also advised govinda-bhajan, and we are also under the same principle, following the footprints of those ācāryas. We are also advising the govinda-bhajan. So govinda-bhajan, it is coming from time immemorial. It is not a new thing. So one should profit if he engages himself in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness, govinda-bhajan. In the Padma-Purāṇa also there is such references. It is said there,

So, there is material world. This material world is within the mahat-tattva compass. You have seen the picture, mahat-tattva compass. And that mahat-tattva is full with water. This is called Causal Ocean. And beyond that Causal Ocean, there is spiritual world. It is stated, tasyāḥ pāre paravyoma. Paravyoma means spiritual sky. And tripād-bhūtam. Tripād-bhūtaṁ sanātanam. Tripād-bhūtam means this material manifestation is only one-fourth energy of the Supreme Lord.

This inferior energy is only one-fourth manifestation of the energy. The three-fourths manifestation of energy (is) in the spiritual world, and that is sanātanam. That is not subjected to creation and annihilation, as this material world is subjected to creation and annihilation. That is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā. All Vedic literatures, they say the same thing. So we have to learn from authorized sources, and we can be informed perfectly about parāvara: para and avara. Avara means this inferior nature, and para means superior nature. Parāvaras te.

Now, after this spiritual world, this material world, that is full of innumerable universes. 'Devī-dhāma' nāma tāra, jīva yāra vāsī (CC Madhya 21.53).

Now, this material world is called Devī-dhāma. And jīva, jīva means conditioned souls. In this Devī-dhāma, the conditioned soul... There are two kinds of souls: conditioned and liberated, nitya-baddha, nitya-mukta. Just like we are, similarly, there are living entities in the spiritual sky also, but they are ever-liberated.

They never become conditioned. We are conditioned. We, I mean to say, we do not know from when, but we are conditioned. So jīva yāra vāsī. In this material world, we conditioned, we are residents. But in the spiritual world the residents are all liberated souls. Jagal-lakṣmī rakhi' rahe yāhāṅ māyā dāsī.

Ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṇa adhīśvara (CC Madhya 21.54). Ei tina dhāma. Tina dhāma, what is that three system? This Devī-dhāma, the Maheśa-dhāma and the Hari-dhāma. Hari-dhāma, the spiritual world; and Maheśa-dhāma, in between... This Maheśa-dhāma is the destination of nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa. The nirvāṇa philosophy, the Buddha philosophy, that is between this Devī-dhāma and Hari-dhāma: Maheśa-dhāma, Maheśa-dhāma, in between. They are liberated also, but not in the spiritual world, in the marginal place, which is called nirvāṇa. Their material existence is finished, but their spiritual development is not there.

So finishing material existence is not all. Just like one man is suffering from fever, and the fever subsides. That is not health. Fever subsides, that's all right. Fever has subsided. But healthy life is when he will work as a healthy man. Simply saying, "No, no more fever," no more fever, lying down on the bed, is the nirvāṇa stage. No more fever. There is no fever, but he is not competent to get up from the bed and work. So that is called nirvāṇa. The fever is finished. That is called nirvāṇa.

So when material existence is finished, that is nirvāṇa. But you have to go farther. You have to develop farther. Then your real, constitutional life as spirit soul will be manifested. So that is bhakti-mārga. That activity is healthy life after nirvāṇa. So those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they have already passed this material existence and nirvāṇa stage. They are in healthy activities, provided he is actually engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So ei tina dhāmera haya kṛṣṇa adhīśvara.

Now, these tina dhāma, three systems of existence, the material world and the marginal place, Maheśa-dhāma, and the spiritual sky. So in the Bhagavad-gītā you have learned that yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6). That dhāma word is used there. Dhāma means place. Everything, Kṛṣṇa is proprietor of all places. But that does not mean that we should remain in this because this is also Kṛṣṇa's place. No.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Tenth Chapter, you will find that Kṛṣṇa says that dyūtaṁ chalayatām asmi (BG 10.36): "Amongst the all kinds of cheating professions, I am gambling." Kṛṣṇa says that "Amongst all kinds of cheating business, I am gambling." Gambling... There is in gambling, it requires some expert brain, how to play gamble. So that expertness, that part of expert endeavor, is Kṛṣṇa. So we should not think, "Oh, because Kṛṣṇa is gambling also, so let us engage and devote in gambling." No. Kṛṣṇa is everything. Kṛṣṇa is everything, but we have to select favorably, not unfavorably.

Sarvam khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1). Without Brahman, without Kṛṣṇa, nothing can exist. Everything existing on His energy. The same example can be given..., just, every department is government department. Therefore if a prisoner says, "Yes, I am in government department," that sort of knowledge is not very good. "Because prison department is also criminal department..., is also government department, so instead of becoming in the university department, let me go to the criminal department," that is not congenial.

We have to select. Kṛṣṇa is everything. So Kṛṣṇa says that every dhāma, every place, belongs to Him, but yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama (BG 15.6): "There is an eternal dhāma, where going nobody comes back. That is My supreme dhāma." So we have to associate with the Supreme. Kṛṣṇa is everything, but we have to associate with the Supreme, the best. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Goloka...

Because Kṛṣṇa's energy is manifested here, māyika... Māyika means like illusory, imitation, perverted. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham (BG 15.1). Here the tree, the original tree, is presented also, but how it is presented? Now, ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham: "The root is upward, and the branches are downward." I think you may remember; several times we have discussed. So how the root is upward and branches are downward? Have you seen any tree? Yes. We have seen. Where? In the reservoir of water or in a reflection you see this real tree is upwards, but the reflection is downward.

Therefore this material world is reflection. It is not real. Just day before yesterday I was pointing out the reflection of the sun from this side. So that reflection is playing. It is giving light, everything. But it is reflection; it is imitation. It has no value. Similarly, all this material world, it appears very nice, as if everything is all right. But nothing is all right. It is simply a temporary illusion that's all. Therefore it is called māyika. It is not the real thing.

The real thing is there in the spiritual world. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says if you return to that real, I mean to say, abode, then you will have..., you haven't got to come back again to take birth in this material body. Yad dhāma gatva na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na candro na pāvakaḥ (BG 15.6).

This is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, that "There is no need of sun. There is no need of moon. There is no need of electricity." These things are there.

Now Lord Caitanya says that the whole energy of Kṛṣṇa is divided into two. The inferior energy is manifested. That is one-fourth energy. And the superior energy manifested in the spiritual world, that is three-fourths. Now, just try to understand one-fourth first, then you will understand three-fourths.

Lord Caitanya says that tripāda-vibhūti kṛṣṇera-vākya-agocara: "It is very difficult to describe the three-fourth energy. Let us try to understand one-fourth energy first of all." Eka-pāda vibhūtira śunaha vistāra. And what is that one-fourth energy?

There are innumerable universes, and each universe there are..., each universe contains one Brahmā, one Śiva, one sun, one moon, one Indra, like that, officers just like. So there are innumerable universes, so innumerable Brahmā, innumerable Rudra, innumerable sun, innumerable moon, everything innumerable. But each brahmāṇḍa contains one each. So how it happened? It is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So Lord Caitanya is reciting that story.

One day, when Kṛṣṇa was king at Dvārakā, with sixteen thousand queens, so one day Brahmā of this universe came to see Him. Brahmā āilā—dvāra-pāla jānāila kṛṣṇere. And as... The same etiquette was there also. This is also coming by paramparā. Just like a big man or a big officer, he has got his doorman; you have to present your card...

I do not know what is the system here, but India that is the system. You have to send your card, and the..., if doorman takes away that card and the permission comes, then you can go in and see. Similarly, when Brahmā came, he sent his card, informed the doorman, "Please inform Kṛṣṇa that I have come to see Him."

When the doorman inquired that "Which Brahmā you are, sir?" so he replied... He was astonished: "Which Brahmā? Oh, I am so powerful. I have got four heads. I have created this gorgeous universe, and under me there are so many demigods. How is that, 'Which Brahmā?' So all right, Kṛṣṇa has asked. Tell Him that...," kaha giyā sanaka-pitā caturmukha āilā, that "Tell Kṛṣṇa that I am four-headed Brahmā. I am the father of Sanaka-Sanātana."

Sanaka-Sanātana..., he is giving his identification as father of Sanaka-Sanātana, because this Sanaka-Sanātana appeared to be greater than Brahmā. Although these four Kumāras were sons of Brahmā—Sanaka, Sanat-kumāra, Sananda and Sanātana, these four Kumāras—they were so elevated that when their father requested—at that time there was no population—so, that "You get yourself married and increase population. I want population now to fill up this vacant position of this material world, universe," so they refused: "Father, we are not going to marry. We are not going to entangle." So they remained kumāra. So they became very famous, great devotees of Lord from very childhood.

So therefore Brahmā is very intelligent. He is the first creature of this universe. So may Kṛṣṇa forget that who is catur-mukha Brahmā. So he is giving identification that "Tell Kṛṣṇa that the father of these Sanaka-Sanātana." Because Kṛṣṇa cannot forget His these, I mean to say, pure devotees like Sanaka-Sanātana. So this is the example, that the father is giving identification with the credit of the son. The sons were more creditable than the father, because they were great devotees.